Could this be the year the Canadiens do better than the Maple Leafs?
It’s not out of the question. Let me be clear about the rules of engagement. ‘Better’ could mean better in the regular season, but it could also mean better in the playoffs, and need I remind you the Leafs have won a grand total of two series in the Big Four era? Oh, and need I also remind you the Big Four era is over and it’s now the Big Three era, with Mitch Marner, a.k.a. The Most Hated Man in Toronto, now plying his trade in Las Vegas.
OK, so Round 1 of the Habs-Loafs bout went Toronto’s way on Wednesday, with the bad guys going home with a 5-2 win over their rivals. But most everyone after the Montreal loss was saying the Canadiens didn’t play a bad game and the Maple Leafs didn’t really play that great.
First off, Toronto had two empty-net goals, so it was actually more like a 3-2 final, and add to that the winning goal from Morgan Rielly was just a freak of nature, coming after Mike Matheson broke his stick and Lane Hutson somehow lost his, leaving the team’s two defenceman without any lumber in sight on a play that was more Monty Python’s Flying Circus than anything resembling grown-up hockey.
I don’t say it’s likely Montreal nabs more points in the regular season, but I’m more confident they could do better in the post-season for the simple reason this Toronto team, even when it had Marner, has not been great at winning playoff series. I could see Montreal winning one series and Toronto none.
Of course, there are loads of question marks around the Habs’ season. Will Patrik Laine improve his five-on-five play? (Based on Wednesday, no.) Will Kirby Dach finally stop worrying and play with abandon? (Based on Wednesday, no.) Will Samuel Montembeault play a strong 55-game season? (Based on Wednesday, not sure.)
What’s certain is the Leafs are a lesser team without Marner’s 100-or-so points and they still don’t have a proven starting goalie. Whatever happens this season, what I love is 10 years into the Auston Matthews experiment, the win-big window is closing for Toronto and, slowly, but surely, opening for this young Canadiens team. How that must burn the Toronto sports media to realize it.
A friend told me he has a $500 bet with a buddy of his in Toronto that the Canadiens will bring home the Stanley Cup before the Leafs do. I told him he’d made a good bet. I met Yann Bonato at McLean’s Pub on Wednesday just before the Leafs-Habs game and he was wearing an extremely tight red Erik Cole Canadiens T-shirt. Turns out that’s due to a bet he’d made with his friends four years ago. It was during the infamous first-round Montreal Toronto playoff series and Bonato, a Leafs fan, told his pals, when his team was up 3-1 on the Habs, there was no effin way his Leafs would lose the series. So the bet was he’d have to wear a tight Habs T-shirt to watch a Leafs-Habs game at the bar. Well, as we all know, the Leafs collapsed like a cheap house of cards (or maybe just like only the Leafs can collapse/choke). For some reason, it took four years for Bonato to squeeze into a tight Canadiens tee.
He doesn’t think Montreal will do better than Toronto, “but I do believe the Canadiens will be in the mix for the playoffs up until the last game of the season. They’re on the right path, they’ve got the right people in charge, you just need a better goalie and give Lane Hutson a bit of time to get better on the defence. And you need a second-line centre.”
Marco Tafuri, Bonato’s friend, says Montreal might do better than Toronto.
“They’re hungry enough now to live up to our city,” Tafuri said. “I know it’s clichéd to say, but ça sent la coupe.”
So, Montreal. Before even the first puck drop of the season, fans are smelling a sweaty Cup.
Sid Michailidis is worried Montreal lost some key role players in David Savard, Christian Dvorak and Joel Armia. So, he thinks they’ll be fighting for a playoff spot.
“And even if they don’t make the playoffs this year, I don’t think that’s a failure,” Michailidis said. “They’re going to be exciting to watch. Much as it kills me to say it, dude, Toronto is still more established than Montreal is.”
Andy Tobar, also at McLean’s, said he thinks “the Maple Leafs will be a little step ahead.”
Jean-François Pion said “Montreal is on the way up and Toronto I don’t believe improved all that much in the off-season.”
He notes the Canadiens improved with the pick-up of Noah Dobson and Zach Bolduc and he figures they’ll pass the Leafs in a couple of years.
“The Leafs did their rebuild and they didn’t get their grail,” Pion said.
Now that’s not something you’ll hear on TSN or Sportsnet.
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